Experimental and Theoretical Study of a Solar Thermochemical Receiver Module

摘要

A few years ago, a prototype test module of a solar thermochemical receiver using an SO sub 2 /SO sub 3 reaction system was designed, built, and tested to establish a technical data base for future subsystem design efforts. Emphasis was placed on experimental verification of the computer simulation to establish a reliable design tool to predict the thermochemical performance of the receiver with a reasonable degree of confidence. The computational results were compared with experimental results obtained from the module tested at New Mexico State University. Reasonable agreement was found over a range of test conditions. It was concluded that the present design offers satisfactory conversion performance and operational flexibility for the construction of a complete reactor/receiver unit for use in a 10- to 15-kW dish collector system. (ERA citation 09:049666)